Madrid, Spain!

That's where we're heading this summer! The change of plans came unexpectedly as Scott found a program and realized it was a perfect fit. Master's in International Education Administration. 13 months. 2 summers in Madrid, and courses online during the school year. As for me, I'll be a tourist :) It was hard, at first, for me to accept not going home to Canada. I try not to think of the things I'll miss, and instead think of the new things I'll get to see and experience. I hope I don't get lonely during the days. Anyone want to visit us while we're there? July 1 - Aug. 2

That's the main news for now. We have 4 weeks of school left....and it's always an exhausting sprint to the end. Hopefully I'll survive. I haven't been running recently because I no longer have a race to train for this summer (I was signed up for the Peach Bud race in Grimsby). And I think it's too hot in Madrid to go running in July. I guess I could go early mornings.

Keep in touch folks!

Much love to all...

Soccer Champs

Spring?

Snow is gone, haven't had a dust storm in awhile, but air quality has been bad, and the temperatures NOT warm enough! It is also the time of the year that the students open up and reveal a darker side. Tired of the endless school work, they too are ready to burst out the doors and never look back at their teachers that work non-stop.

With Spring comes the end of various seasons for school sports...namely Scott's high-school girls' soccer. In an exciting twisting of paths this year, his team is full of superstars, and girls that work together. They've been undefeated, with 32 goals scored, and only 1 against them during the season! This past weekend they won the championship for one of their divisions, and this coming weekend they'll try to win another. This is Scott's 1st proud win of a championship!

My running continues to increase as I prepare for a 10k race this summer. Things are going very well, though I have some ankle pain after a 10.5k run yesterday. I bought a gym membership just for the winter...it's ending soon, so I hope it warms up and cleans up soon!

Speaking of dirty air....it gives a whole other meaning to "indoor recess." If the air quality reaches 300 or over, it's too dangerous to be outside. This happened a couple of weeks ago, and on the weekend too, at the soccer tournament. Both Scott and I noticed we had sore throats, and we aren't coming down with a cold!

This is all for now folks....thanks for reading! :)

Us with friends Simon and Bridget at the school gala in February

snowing in March

This has got to be the longest winter I've experienced in a long time! (besides our 3 weeks in the Philippines). We had snow on November 1st and yesterday, March 14th it snowed again! And it's cold outside so it's still around! Honestly, we're all tired of it by now. Usually the cold weather is gone by now. In fact, the government usually shuts off the heat by today the 15th. They've been gracious enough to extend it for a week, or hopefully until it gets warmer.

The end of the 3rd quarter is upon us....meaning, only 3 months left of this year! I've listened to myself complain quite a bit lately and I've wondered why. I do love my job...I mostly enjoy working with the kids...but sometimes there are so many OTHER things going on that it feels like planning good lessons is the last thing I have time for! I have to fill out ESL forms, plan our Enrichment Week, go to 2 meetings and a dinner for our accreditation, arrange groups and write questions for the upcoming Brain Bowl, finish marking, write comments and complete the report cards...the list could go on. It's hard to love the job when I can't fully enjoy the kids. Nonetheless, our lord is still using us, and 3 parents have recently come to know him. That is definitely a passion booster.

On a more personal level, I'm actually considering becoming a vegetarian! Bet you didn't see that coming! We've been slowly reducing the amount of meat that we eat, and other factors are also contributing to this decision. It still feels like a journey I'm on whether or not to fully commit to it. I'm doing some reading and pondering it all. Will keep you posted... :)

I still managed to go for a run today and worked out 'til almost 6, thinking Scott was at a soccer game. But he was home. His game was canceled because of the ice and snow on the field. But my phone was also dead so I didn't get his messages either. Late dinner of pasta with tomato/cream sauce, broccoli rabe and mushrooms with garlic. Yum!

It feels like I must apologize each time I post because it's been so long since the last one....but, I guess this is just how it is for now.

Time really goes so quickly when you're busy. Hard to believe it's March already, and that I'll be 29 this month! Only one more year left in my 20's!

School is wild and busy as usual. Lots of fun events. This past week we had "Dr. Seuss" day. I had the best costume of all the staff BY FAR! I wore a blue curly wig, a red jumper that Scott had made, and a round white sign on my chest that said.....can you guess?? "Thing 1"....from Cat in the Hat. Good times. Kids really loved it.

We've been craving warmer weather here, but without much luck. In fact, it's supposed to snow tomorrow, but it should be 9 degrees by Friday. Better warm up soon. The government heat usually turns off on March 15th!

In other news, we have a new rabbit. He was given to some friends that have a shop in the market. Poor guy was unwanted because he's grown already. So they called us and asked if we'd take him! He's been a lot of work because he's not neutered and has had some vicious fights with the rabbit who presently rules the back garden. So he lives in the big cage outside during the day, hangs around inside with us, and sleeps in a small cage inside at night. He can be naughty, but has a funny personality. Sometimes, for attention, he runs in circles around my feet. He likes being pet and will lay out flat if you start stroking him :) Good entertainment for us.

I've been running more recently. I signed up to do the 10k in Grimsby on Tuesday June 29th. Anyone else wanna join? My goal is to be faster than the last one we did. Scott plans on joining me, but I warned him that he can't hold me back! (I've been running all winter and he hasn't run with me for a long time).

There have been a few moments in the past few weeks that I've longed to be home. I wish I could be closer to some of my friends that are going through hard times. I also wish I could be part of the celebrations in my family with all the new babies arriving. But, I know that God provides for all our needs since he has us here.

To him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine...

2010 already?!

Ok, so I'm not very good at this blogging thing, but maybe it's because I don't think of myself as a good writer, or having anything really that worthwhile that others would actually enjoy reading. I guess it's not necessary for me to be a good writer. Most family members just want to know some details so they know what to say when a friend at church asks, "So, how are Scott and Sylvia doing?"

Here are some memorable moments since I last blogged:
-Christmas concert for the elementary students. I must've forgotten last year's reasons why I didn't enjoying doing a drama for this event, because I signed up to do it again. Stressful, but memorable for the students.
-end of the semester involved lots of glitter, glue, and even gingerbread houses thanks to IKEA. The classroom smelled like sugar the next morning. Thankfully the kids went home at noon after they stuffed their mouths full of sugar.
-the night before we left for our Christmas holiday we went to a photo exhibition to commemorate International Migrant's Day. It was minus 12 celsius, we wandered around the art district for about 45 minutes, surrounded by quiet, empty streets, abandoned factories, and numerous galleries all bearing similar names. Finding the place made us appreciate it even more. We even bought some pictures!
-arriving in the Philippines and being greeted by my brother and his wife made the trip so much more exciting! It's great to enjoy this all with them here.
-since arriving it's been one party (with lots of food) after another, splattered with a few runs, some swimming, some AWESOME snorkelling in Bohol, chasing after dolphins in a boat, a baby dedication, a wedding, and soon it will be goodbyes.

These times here with the family in the Philippines are precious. Until this time of living in China, I only saw these family members maybe every 3-5 years. It's great to connect closer with these here, to love one another, and to just be a family! In a few days we go back to chilly China, but my heart will be bursting with the warm memories of these priceless times together.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Looks like Christmas!

This winter has so far been almost enjoyable here in Beijing. We've had a snow day already! And 3 snowfalls that have each stayed longer than 1 day. That's quite a difference from the previous winters we've spent here, where it snowed once or twice, and quickly disappeared. Granted, the government is helping the snow to fall because of the drought. Still, it's beautiful outside. The city is more sparkly white than dusty grey :)

We've finally made our way back onto this site and others that were blocked, all thanks to a vpn we've paid for. Sorry for not updating in a long time.

Things with that piggy flu aren't winding down, but still going strong here. We still have to get our temperatures checked twice a day, and we're actually receiving the vaccine tomorrow. Unfortunately, the 7 day quarantine is still in effect, which really is hard for students to catch up from.

What else has happened since my last update?? Scott and I trained for and ran 9k as part of the Beijing marathon back in mid-October. It was lots of fun, with thousands of people participating. Since then I've joined a gym and I alternate between running on a treadmill and swimming to stay in shape this winter. Otherwise I'd probably hibernate in the apartment (which thankfully now has heat!) and gain weight during the cold months :)

We did enjoy Thanksgiving with other Canadians back in October...our staff is having a big dinner this Saturday, and then the Americans invited us to their Thanksgiving in two weeks! Funny how we didn't invite them yet they still invited us....hehe

Not much other excitement, except that my brother and his wife are joining us this year for Christmas in the Philippines! WOO!

Well, I'm coming down with a cold and I think I'll drink some Neo Citron (which, did you know, is truly canadian?) and head to bed.

Zai jian!

H1N1 strikes back!

We weren't exactly affected by the swine flu in the Spring, but it's hitting us closer and closer to home now. Another international school has 8 cases, and the chinese school that shares the campus with the middle and high school where Scott teaches also has a case. This has led to the unfortunate decision to cancel next week's enrichment week trips for grades 6-12. What a bummer! 22 students were out from that campus today with some sort of sickness. It doesn't mean they have the flu, but any fever must stay home. The students and staff were all excited about their week-long trips. Scott and the seniors were really looking forward to a week long sailing training. And we're all considering how to keep school going if we have to cancel classes. Our poor nurse is extra busy, having to check the students' temperatures when they arrive, then while they eat their lunch. Supposedly a lot of it is political. The certain country where we reside is getting ready to celebrate 60 years since the founding of the ruling party. They don't want any incidents!

Interestingly enough, we had first aid training this weekend, and the doctor, who's a local, told us that they have decide to immunize all those involved in the massive celebration/parade. This means a lot of military and university students. What's interesting is that this doctor said that numerous countries have been working on a vaccine for years, and some countries have it, but it isn't approved for use on humans. But this country makes it and approves it in a short amount of time for immediate use. You've got to wonder if it's really safe or not.....hence why they're trying it out on only a certain group for now. And things are backwards in many other ways. The elderly would be the last to receive the vaccine here. !

In other news, we are still training for our 9k race. And no, I haven't been running 9k in 45 minutes, but I was working up my stamina to running for 45 minutes. I didn't know my distance. I do now though. Scott and I are up to running for 1 hour and we've done about 9k each time. We've still got a month to go!

Not much else is new....we are 1/8 of the way through the school year, Pepper and Baby Spice are still kickin' around, and Matt and Sarah (from Kitchener) were visiting, which was fantastic!

Ta-ta for now!

Wow! A new post!

Yes, it's true! The beautiful country we live in has blocked all of our favorite sites, including this one. Thankfully, we find ways around the Bamboo Curtain so we can give our friends and family updates.

We had a really fantastic time in Canada this summer. It was filled with great grub, fabulous friends and family, camping in the cold, and working on West St.! Even though the weather wasn't so hot, camping was the highlight for both of us. We were spoiled by Scott's parents who graciously lent us their trailer for the week. We spent quality time with lots of cool people, enjoyed the beach, and ate lots of ice cream at the local shop. It was just plain relaxing.

If you happen to go by our house in Thorold, you might actually miss it because it looks so different! Though we actually haven't seen the final outcome, we watched some of the green siding go up before we had to come back. We're still waiting for Doug to send us some final pictures.

Back to Beijing....they really had a hot summer here. And it was still smoking hot when we arrived. Some weeks it was 35-38 every day! It's cooled off a little now (25-30). School is back in full swing. I have 12 students so far and right now they seem like an easier bunch than last year :) We now have projectors in all the homerooms, which makes my teaching easier in so many ways. We both really enjoy our jobs here. Even though there are challenges that come with being part of a small school, the job is one of the main reasons we enjoy living here in Beijing.

In other news, I am still running regularly and a group of us from church and school have decided to run 9km as part of the Beijing Marathon in October! Someone had suggested it back in April, but I really did think I was capable. Now, I have a bit more confidence because I'm now able to run for 45 minutes. And even more exciting is that fact that all of us are raising money for Alpha Communities. They do long-term development projects all over the country. I've got to find my sponsors now!

The only planned visitors so far this year have already arrived in China, our friends Matt and Sarah. For those of you who don't know her, Sarah was my maid of honour at the wedding. We've known each other since we were infants! They are on a cruise right now out of Shanghai and they join us here on Friday. Can't wait to show them around! My parents are considering coming for another visit. Any other takers??? :)

Thanks for all your support. We do wish we could've seen all our friends this summer, but 6 weeks wasn't long enough!

Sorry, sorry...

I can't believe it's actually been 2 months since I last posted! Time sure flies...

So what's happened lately?? My neck has healed fine from the surgery. I have a tiny scar that looks more like a blemish, and so far nothing has grown back on the inside :) I went to the doctor for about 8 days straight to make sure the wound was totally clean, before he let it close up! I turned 28 in March...had a fantastic gathering of friends at one of my favorite restaurants for Indian food (Ganges).

We had a local friend stay with us for a few weeks because she was basically kicked out by her roommates. It was a challenging time for us, but we knew it was God's plan for us to spend that time with her. She had to move to another apartment because we had visitors coming!

Last week, Scott's parents arrived here in Beijing, and we've already seen them off a week later. We spent a wonderful week together, making sure they got to experience lots of our day-to-day life before they hit the tourist spots with their tour group. They of course loved the local market beside our place. After spending an initial 3hrs. there last Saturday, they went back frequently on their own to shop and just look around. They are now joining a tour group that will take them all over China in the next two weeks.

April is a busy time at the school. Besides SAT testing, the elementary school has Enrichment Week, which is a whole week of field trips and service projects. It requires a LOT of planning. We are going on an overnight trip, of which the details drive me nuts! :) Scott is also busy with high school girl's soccer this season. He has a tournament this weekend in Tianjin, and next week he'll be gone for 5 days to Shanghai for a big tournament.

Less than 2 months now 'til we'll be home for the summer. We have officially signed our new contracts, which says we'll be staying for another 2 years. I've really learned not to hold tightly to any of my own plans. Actually, sometimes I just don't make any long-term plans. I know that God is leading us and he'll show us where and how to go, one step at a time.

Cysts and Contracts

Yes, the cyst on my neck reappeared and just this week (as I was on antibiotics to try to shrink it) it turned nasty. Red and painful. I knew by Thursday afternoon that it meant going back to the doctor for another minor operation, just like last June. Thankfully I had more time to prepare myself mentally. So I took Friday off, headed to the doctor where he immediately took me to the little operating room and cut a hole in my neck. Yes, he did give me some local anesthetic. After a bit of prodding, poking and squeezing he patched me up. Just like last time, it was a giant bandage reaching from my chin to my ear! I think I remember praying earlier in the week that God would break my pride. Well, these cysts seem to chip away big chunks of it every time!

They like to give antibiotics by intravenous here, to speed up the process. So after a poke in the back end, they put a needle in my hand and I quietly watched some satellite TV while I was pumped with medication. THAT whole process was repeated again today (Saturday). He cleaned the hole, patched me up again (thankfully with a smaller bandage), and I got more needles. Except this time I got one free poke in the hand...apparently the veins in my right hand don't cooperate with the nurses...which she soon realized, so she took it out. So after all that, I have about 4 band-aids on me today! Same thing will be repeated tomorrow....hopefully with one less poke.

As far as contracts go....since it's that time of year when teachers are thinking about the next school year....We have decided to continue teaching here in Beijing. There are many reasons to love living here. But the biggest reason would be that we feel alive and in touch with what God is doing. It's also easier to stay in touch with the important things in life. We don't know how much longer we'll stay....but we'll take it one contract at a time, just trusting the Lord. We will be going to the land of maple syrup this summer for 6 weeks! From June 17 to July 30....those are the dates right now, but no flights booked yet. (Still looking for a good price!)

Thanks for reading :)

New Year Break

Just a few pictures from the few days we spent with our friends who live outside Beijing.

Feb.

The days grow longer and warmer
We wait with anticipation for bright days that were former.

Goodbye to mitts and hats
And it's not longer the year of the Rats!

The noisy fireworks have come to an end
It lasted two weeks! Big fire downtown might change this trend.

The rabbits run and play
Baby Spice (now an IT) saw the vet for a day!

Students for a basketball tournament arrive
3 nights they'll make us a family of five.

A cyst on my neck has appeared again
More antibiotics, shrinking we will attain?
Otherwise surgery will soon be down the lane.

We strive to hide God's word in our hearts
We know He alone takes care of all life's parts.

Suspended?!

The constant bickering and petty fights between the boys in my class came to a breaking point yesterday. Imagine two boys who have a love-hate relationship. They can have fun and play together, but can also easily upset one another. And now add a new student to the bunch, who seems to egg each of them on. Well they went to art class and they were out of my hands. When I picked them up, I heard from other students that there was a big fight. Apparently the boys had been rolling on the floor fighting. I said "that's enough, I've had it with you too, we'll be talking to the principal about this." Of course they just said "Oh sorry JW" and "It's ok"...."Ok teacher, no problem now!" But that's what they try to get away with.

Anyways, I won't ramble too long....but, I told the principal what happened (and she knows what goes on between them, and she's dealt with them before), so she decided to suspend them for the rest of the day. They could not believe it! At least they know now how serious we are about this, and that we won't tolerate it. Unfortunately one of the boys took it so hard he was hyperventilating! When he wouldn't calm down for almost 1 hour we had to get the counsellor to talk to him. Part of the problem is that his parents are both in Korea (Dad is sick in hospital, mom visits him), and the two kids are here beging cared for by a driver and a nanny! So yes, he's unstable. That family needs to be together. It's actually quite normal here for families to be separated. Dad's working somewhere else, kids studying here. But somehow, it still seems better than all the divorce and broken families in N. America.

Well China is gearing up for it's New Year celebrations. Fireworks are already going off occassionaly. Most chinese schools are already out on holiday. We don't have any big plans. We'll just try to help the rabbits survive the fireworks :)

Happy new Year of the Ox!!!

to Manila and back

Another perk of being a teacher: 2 weeks Christmas break. A perk of being an international teacher: work 3 more weeks than take 1 week of for chinese new year! And we enjoy the perks as much as possible. This year we again joined my filipino family for Christmas. Again there was too much eating, but we were stronger this time. Our "No, I can't eat anymore!" was a little bolder, and we made a point to swim and walk places as much as possible. We also left the luxurious homes for 5 days to travel with a cousin and her husband to the mountain province up north of Manila. Great trip! Besides the driving through twisty, bumpy, winding roads, we had an awesome time. There was hiking, 3 hrs. of caving, climbing Mt. Pinatubo (volcano that errupted in '91), and even a stop in a beach town where we did a jungle walk (very light compared to everything else we'd done). Overall, a very satisfying time.

Back in Manila it was a few more days of shopping and eating before we left for Shanghai. We flew in and out of Shanghai for a cheaper flight and also took the chance to visit a cousin of mine I'd never met before from my swedish side. Really great time with them her and her husband.

The bunnies have grown while we've been gone, and the city is getting geared up for Chinese New Year. Most schools here will be off for almost 1 month! We only get a week off. We think we'll stay around just to save money....but we'll see what happens :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!

spoiled :)

I do admit that sometimes I feel spoiled here in Beijing. Here's my confession: right now there is someone else cleaning our house! This is actually the first time we've hired someone to come and clean, but boy am I excited. We haven't hired someone to come once a week like most people do, but we found out that there's a company you can call to have someone come whenever you need. This time of year is of course hectic. It's Saturday and I spent the morning at the school, just cleaning things up there, putting away the piles of things that accumulate, and trying to be organized. And the truth is, our place hasn't been thoroughly cleaned in awhile. Usually we just kinda do a surface clean. So this is a treat, especially since it's only about $2/hour!

I also feel spoiled with the health care I receive. I guess we pay it monthly on our paycheques, but I don't have to fork out cash in advance. The clinic I use has direct billing, and the doctor really is generous with anything we need :) Dry skin? He's got the solution! Their mentality is that we're paying for good health care, and he gets paid by our insurance company, so we might as well get all we're paying for! Did I mention I have a big gall stone? I don't have any symptoms because it's just one big one. As long as it doesn't bother me, which it hasn't, then it stays. And I'm not supposed to eat chinese food! Well, I haven't completely stopped, but I've definitely reduced the intake of the spicy, oily foods.

In two weeks we're heading to Shanghai for 2 days and then Manila for about 10 days! Should be a nice warm Christmas. Once we come back in January we teach for 3 weeks and then it's Chinese new year! But I don't think we'll go anywhere this time. It's too expensive and crazy to go anywhere that time of year. We'll just stay and experience the fireworks 24 hrs. a day for about 7 days :)

Happy December to all!

Gray November

'Tis the end of November and all through the town
The city is filling
With gray smoke all around

I guess since it's gotten colder, and the government turned our heat on on Nov. 15, the coal-burning plants are up and running, which means things are pretty dusty around here. Our back patio gets dirtier a lot faster, and the air is just not nice. I really noticed the difference today. We just got back from a 5 day trip to Hong Kong. What a difference! We've been there before, but it was in passing on the way to Manila...so this time I really noticed the differences between these two cities.

We were in Hong Kong with 9 others from our school for a conference for international christian teachers. Great conference! Great workshops, speakers, everything. We stayed at a YMCA camp which wasn't great, but much cheaper for the school. We took the subway various places to go out for dinner and shopping and you just notice how much more civilized the people are. They don't push and shove. They line up properly and follow the rules. There's no spitting, or really any garbage lying around. Yes, it's crowded, but they handle it much better. Blue skies there meant there's a deep blue whichever direction you look. Whereas here in Beijing you have to look straight up to find blue (if you're lucky), and still it's usually hazed over. Needless to say, there's a lot I liked about Hong Kong. Most people speak english, and there's lots of great shopping and food! The whole place is a lot more compact which makes it easier to find things. But the cost of living is definitely more expensive. So here we are back in our gray city, happy to sleep in our own beds and see our rabbits again :)

Speaking of rabbits, we had a traumatic experience about 2 weeks ago. It was a regular Sunday evening and I stepped out to give the rabbits some food when I heard something squealing. It wasn't very close, but I recognized the sound as a baby rabbit! I could tell it was on the other side of our fence, so Scott went out the front and around to the back to see what he could find. My heart was pounding. The only rabbit that was out was Pepper, and he seemed restless, especially when he heard the squealing. Sure enough, Scott saw a ferret (or weasel?) run out of the bushes. Then he followed the squealing noise and found our Pepper Jr. My heart dropped. Scott brought him inside but the back of his neck was chewed up. He must've been carried off. He was still breathing though and for some minutes, I had hope that we could help him. We wrapped him in an old t-shirt and tried to let him calm down. But I realized we couldn't do anything for him when he tried to get up, moving his back legs, but he could not lift his head. It must've been broken. How sad it was to watch him suffer. We made him as comfortable as we could. We knew we were in for a late night. We eventually did get to sleep around 11:30 and he was still breathing. Even in the morning he was still with us, and I was beginning to wonder if we'd have to spend money on him at the animal hospital! Both of us barely made it through teaching that Monday. We were so tired, physically and emotionally. I came home as quickly as I could and he was no longer breathing. I'm glad he wasn't suffering anymore, but it was still quite sad. He was like one of our own. He had been born in our little yard! And he was so cute. We had a little funeral for him that night. Rest in Peace Pepper Jr. Now we just have 1 baby left, plus Salt and Pepper.


Well that's all for now. These next 3 weeks are going to FLY as we get ready for Christmas concerts, parties, and then we go to the Philippines!

Thanks for reading and keeping in touch !

Snow, hiking...

It's slowly starting to get colder here...This past weekend we enjoyed (sort of) a 4 hour hike 1 hour drive north of Beijing. It was great to get out of the city but it was definitely colder than I expected. Thankfully I haven't gotten sick from this cold and sweaty trek, and I think my calf muscles have finally recovered. This hike was unique because we started at a small village in the mountains, trekked to another village in the middle of the mountains, climbed to the summit of one of those peaks, and then back down. It was cool to walk through a village that is so completely different from life in the city. We even saw a donkey pulling a big stone to grind corn. And speaking of corn, the harvest of corn from the whole area was drying on the shoulders of the roads! It was weird, and beautiful. Now we know why there are sometimes stones in our cornmeal :) It even snowed a bit while we were walking through one of the villages. Another point of interest from our hike had to be when Scott decided "straight up here" looked closer than going zig-zag up to the summit of the mountain. Of course the other guys had to follow along, while us wives took the trail. We reached the peak and then couldn't see them because it was such a drop over the edge! We started calling down "where are you guys?" until we saw some heads through the brush. But reaching the top required them to climb basically straight up these rocks with a big drop-off. One wife was screaming over the cliff "Turn around and get back on the trail! You don't have medical!" Thankfully we didn't have any serious injuries. Scott actually emerged completely unscathed. One guy emerged with bloody shins (he was wearing shorts) and the last (and older) one emerged sweaty and covered in bits of trees! hehe. It was a funny sight.

This weekend we'll be enjoying turkey again! Our staff is having it's Thanksgiving dinner. I'm looking forward to all the delicious foods! And in 2 weeks we head to Hong Kong for a 3 day conference. It will be warmer there! Our heat comes on this weekend though :) Thank the lord for government heating!

hmm...November already??

Well, apparently I'm less faithful at writing my blog this year. Sorry! I guess things are just more comfortable here this year, and we're just used to life in Beijing. So maybe it doesn't seem as 'new' anymore. Well the highlight of this past month was definitely my parents' visit! What a fun time to have them come and experience our life here! It was so great just to show them the local places we shop, and get to know some of our friends and community. They probably weren't used to the amount that we eat out! It's quite convenient and most importantly CHEAP to eat out rather than cook for ourselves. Don't get me wrong, I do cook dinner at least 4 nights a week :) But my mom insisted on cooking dinner for us sometimes, which was a nice treat. Especially since she ventured to the meat section of our market (which I had yet to step foot in!) and buy some good cuts of meat and seafood! If you wonder what my mom thinks of us biking around the city, she said that she will keep praying for me everyday! :)

Other excitement would be that while my parents were here Pepper was taken away to get nutured! We were fairly certain Salt was pregnant. And then while Pepper was gone for his surgery we think she had babies! No sign of them until just a week ago. So they are 4 weeks old now. We've seen 3 of them. 2 gray, 1 black (with a white nose like Pepper). They are quite small and very cute! Of course, they are quite timid as well, because they were born in a burrow! We did manage to get a picture of one the other day.

We enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner with other Canadians! Our dinner included all the regulars: turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, and pumpkin pie!

School continues to be busy, as usual. It's always fun to figure out how to do things with new staff and students. And of course, my students are a little wild this year. But I still enjoy my job! We've just finished reading Little House in the Big Woods! We even made butter!

I hope you're all enjoying the Fall weather. The leaves are just starting to turn here. BYE!